Letter: DA Becton, Marsy’s Law and Alexandrea Sweitzer

The following open letter to Contra Costa District Attorney Diana Becton was submitted by Melanie Schwartz, mother of 2017 murder victim Alexandrea Sweitzer.

Subject: DA Becton, Marsy’s Law, and Alexandrea Sweitzer

As the mother of murder victim Alexandrea Kay Sweitzer, I am asking you at this time to let Vincent Lising-Campos leave Contra Costa County Juvenile detention. You, along with countless elected officials on all levels, have successfully proven to me that Lising-Campos is an important and integral piece to the fabric of the society you wish to create. Alexandrea’s family, loved ones, and friends are not a part of your tapestry.

I fought as hard as I could for my daughter until 2019 when all avenues for justice were closed. Since then, I have continued to fight but not for my Allie. Agonizing for a nameless faceless victim and their mother that will come when he is no longer supervised. I have come to a place in my journey where I acknowledge the people who voted for you, voted for your agenda. To spend my money, time, and tears going against the will of the citizens of the County is no longer in my best interest. I will try to fully grieve my daughter, my family, my future, and all things only parents of murdered children could understand.

Release Mr. Lising-Campos and when he shoots, kills, and robs more of your constituency they will continue to support you because let’s face it, most citizens will not be affected by a violent crime committed by a juvenile and you are thriving on that fact.

Your agenda embraces the parts of a study that say adolescent brains don’t fully form until age 25, silly simplification as, 25 is not a hard and fast number. You leave out facts of these studies like the fact is most juveniles are not killers and yet you’ve lumped them into a category of forgiveness with crimes such as theft and property damage. You also like to conveniently leave out the part of those studies that acknowledge there are very small numbers of ‘inherently evil’ juveniles.

Your agenda continues to roll out in steps and with its implementation your crime numbers falsely indicate less crime as you aren’t even charging juveniles thanks to SB1391. News outlets lessen reports of these crimes because they can no longer put names and faces to the crimes. For the general public out of sight is out of mind and it’s working for you.

Let Mr. Lising-Campos walk the streets of Contra Costa County once again. While I don’t wish his evilness upon anyone, it’s what the people voted for, and you do represent “The People of the State of California, Contra Costa County” as my daughter’s case documents indicate. Just know, YOU DO NOT REPRESENT HER FAMILY OR LOVED ONES no matter where we reside.

Regrettably,
Melanie A Schwartz

P.S. I only speak for myself and if you or anyone else would like to know brief parts of how I got to this place please read on.

Here’s this month’s “what it’s like to be a crime victim with DA Diana Becton as representation”:

Once again, Diana Becton and company have gotten one over on me. As usual it can be chalked up to all kinds of excuses by her and any of her office cronies. We all know exceedingly too well it is by design.

It took me FOUR YEARS, yes 4 years of asking and asking and finally losing my mind on someone to receive the Order For Victims Restitution against Vincent Lising-Campos. It was signed and filed January 6, 2020 for pete’s sake! For 4 years they had the order and would not give it to me to get it enforced!

Wouldn’t you know it, as of July 2023 when the DJJ closed I can’t even go after 50% of his measly DJJ trust each month. He will only ever have to pay on a voluntary basis if he ever feels like it through the County of Contra Costa “collections”.

OH and big surprise Diana Becton is on the Board for the State of California’s Victim Compensation Board making absolute sure that poor little juveniles who rape and murder along with their inconsiderate low life parents who key our cars, shoot gun fingers at us, mean mug us in court and show as little remorse as their wretched kid, they aren’t required to pay for ANYTHING.

Here’s a NON-comprehensive list of her representation over the last 6 years I will call it “How can Diana Becton make a victim miserable, let me count the ways”:

• There has been an actual hearing in front of a judge where the assigned DA didn’t have our case file because Becton had possession of it. I guess the attorney assigned the case should just go off memory!
• Becton’s Husband’s relatives have been arrested with Teari Watts in another case. No surprise he keeps getting less and less of a sentence as well.
• Becton told Mr. Mahalich he could prepare and file a writ in opposition to SB1391, the writ got a hearing date and magically during Mahalich’s planned vacation Becton scheduled a court date to happen while he was out of the country. Hearings are usually scheduled months in advance by the assigned DA, somehow she got this on within 3 business days. She ordered the writ to be withdrawn. This hearing sealed the deal keeping Lising-Campos from prison time just in case SB1391 was successfully argued against by anyone else. I had no time to seek representation to file the writ against SB1391 by other means nor delay this hearing. You used this exact tactic against Phyllis Redmond in the Freddie Lee Taylor case didn’t you Becton? Ultimately getting Mrs. Redmond to quit the DAs office.  Constructive dismissal of DA staff that do not comply with your bidding. So “Old-boys-club” of you! Proving again a woman can do anything a man can do.
• Then Becton had the audacity to LIE UNDER OATH about the reasons and timeline for her actions with Mahalich in our case during a hearing that was broadcast online, I was listening online to that hearing. I hope the people you were testifying to caught it and at the very least they called your lying ass out Becton! A long-time judge and elected DA that lies under oath, such a disgrace.
• Becton told me “You are just one case so I can’t help you” grinning wide as the words gleefully rolled past her lips, which I’ve heard she’s told murder victim Alexis Gabe’s family this or something quite similar. When do crime victims matter to you Becton? How many cases do you need to help us? Huh? Elected DA tell me, when do you help or even show you give a rip about crime victims?
• Becton changes the assigned DA for EVERY court hearing since Chad Mahalich walked out of Mr. Lising-Campos’ delinquency hearing in protest of Becton. Is that not a tactic by you as well Becton? No one will ever know the facts of our case so they walk into the courtroom underprepared?
• Oh look case in point….Lising-Campos snorts “a substance” off of a desk in full view of staff and inmates. Beats up another inmate all within months of a court hearing and is given time off his delinquency holding period for “good behavior” and your DA flavor of the month you have on our case can just flippantly tell me he didn’t know all the background. So basically, he didn’t fight it and excuses it as “it’s on the judge”.  Mediocre work and excuse at best when he knows Becton set him up to fail or maybe his goal is Lising-Campos’ release as well, probably why she hired him. By the way this was a hearing no one attended because we weren’t told about it until too late (the first one not attended for either defendant in over 6 years)
• We have not been informed of recent court hearings until sometimes the night before hearings because according to the victims’ advocates Becton has removed the victims’ advocates access to the court date schedules. I live out of state, how do you inform me of a hearing the night before the hearing when you’ve known about it for weeks or even months! I BELIEVE THIS IS A DIRECT VIOLATION OF MARSY’S LAW. Constitution article I, § 28, section (b) 7 – which I have repeatedly over the years always requested.

Diana Becton, you along with all of your immoral office cronies, your gang sheltering husband, any and all elected officials who are in lock step with you on these laws to engage in the systematic torture of crime survivors, I hope you ALL eternally rot in hell, which will be longer than the hell you have created for me in this life. No, I didn’t wish this fate on my daughter’s killers because any of you that fit into my list are infinitely worse!

Editors Note – background

• Dec 8, 2023 – Recall District Attorney Diana Becton Group Launched
• Jan 25, 2019 – New law gives teen killer a break, victim’s family anguish
• Jan 24, 2019 – Prosecutor drops out of East Bay murder case after judge accepts teen’s plea deal under new leniency law
• July 19, 2019 – Police: 6 dangerous gang members arrested in Richmond over last month, 2 on the loose
• July 18. 2019 – 15-year-old suspect arrested in Richmond park slaying
• May 23, 2017 – Discovery Bay woman fatally shot at Richmond park identified